Belly of the Beast
by rhoades
Summary: Space marines; supermen? warrior gods? ... even gods can die sometimes. A crappy write-up, hopefully the story will be better than summary.
1. The Start of it all

In the Belly of the Beast

_Before-_

Space; the void between planets, the nothing. This was the playground of beings that had no right to be there. Beings that, in their infancy and arrogance, looked up and said 'that is where we need to be, that is our destiny.' The first pioneers strapped themselves into machines similar to missiles powered by more flammable liquid then was reasonably safe and punched their way towards the heavens. As time past they made bigger and better machines, ships that speared out into the darkness and carried them beyond the small world they called home.

But they were not satisfied.

Instead of exploration being the be all and end all they desired to conquer.

The emperor of all mankind created his children, genetic copies of all the best parts of man, the primarchs, and sent them ahead to claim planets and peoples in his name. Each of them given men to command, each of them a man made better through science and surgery until they had become more than men; as close to a god as was possible.

And all went his way for a time.

Until.

One of his sons, Horus...his most trusted son, consumed by power, struck a killing blow confining the great emperor to a half-life. Now, nothing more than the mummified remains of what he once was, he sits in his great throne on that parent world; Terra.

His sons are all gone but his people and subject live on, billions upon billions on countless worlds in countless systems.

And what of the soldiers. Those supermen clad in armour who fought for him and him alone...they still endure. They fight on with the same zealous pride and enduring belief in the emperor.

* * *

_Now-_

The inside of the long metallic tube screamed sparse.

It was designed to be functional not aesthetically pleasing. The only concession to comfort lay in the installation of the two rows of identical seats that had been added. The lighting was muted to such a degree that it seemed almost unnecessary. This bothered the occupants not in the slightest. Enhanced senses such as eyesight and hearing were further heightened by the helmets they wore

Giants sat in the chairs, each taller and broader than a man.

Clad in an almost impenetrable suit of ceramite and integrated machinery each of them was the equal of a squad of normal soldiers.

They packed enough personal fire power to level a building (some carrying more) and could move with the grace of a runner. Considering they each weighed a couple of tonnes apiece and had the ability to charge through a wall without much trouble, this tended to shock a lot of races that met them face to face.

That shock was usually the first and last thing that went through their minds.

The tube vibrated violently causing the men to lurch against their restraints. Not a single occupant voiced anger or concern for the motion; what would happen was to happen...it was His will. It carried on with its pre-determined course following the commands it had been given before it had been launched. Large thrusters on the outside adjusted its trajectory and it corrected once more.

A green light lit up a small corner of the interior and the giants each reached an arm across their chests, the sound of muttered prayers evident in the silence though muffled through twenty helmets.

One of the giants lifted its harness and stood, the heavy, and slightly magnetic boots planting him solidly on the metallic inner surface. He reached into the racks above where he had been seated and retrieved a pistol that fit snugly in his fist. The barrel was large, the explosive rounds it carried able to blow holes clean through the heaviest of armour. He checked the action of the weapon giving a quiet prayer to the machine spirit that resided within. He pulled a magazine from a pouch on his belt and slammed it into the handle making sure it was firmly locked into place. Trusting the gun was ready he mag-locked it to his thigh. He reached back into the space and pulled a device that had inspired fear in countless enemies. The thing fitted in his gloved hand and locked into place. With a flick of his fingers the claws that stuck out from his fist exploded into blue electric light, pure kinetic energy coursing over and around them. He flexed his fingers once more and they went out, the light still lingering in his vision.

He looked up and slowly gazed around the compartment.

'We hit in five...the emperor protects!'

Nineteen heads turned his way and in one voice said...

'FOR THE EMPEROR!'

The giant braced his arms in holds on the side of the tube and locked his knees. This was the part of every deployment he knew would spell success or failure.

The minutes ticked by slowly but surely.

He lowered his head at the last second, his voice barely a whisper...

'The emperor protects all.'

The engines fired and slowed the tube they were in considerably but they still hit with the force of a train.

All was motion and chaos for a minute after the initial impact, then...stillness.

Restraints were removed and weapons grabbed and checked; the sound of racks being pulled and rounds chambered explosively loud in the suddenly silent confines.

There came the sound of explosive bolts being blown from the outside and the doors started to open.

It had started.

**AN. To all of you that play and live warhammer, I apologise deeply. This is my first 40K fan-fic (and it probably shows all too well.) So please flame away if you want to, I would love to know how I did.**


	2. Quiet Beginnings

They were told in training that the first seconds of an insertion would determine the entire battle ahead.

Sometimes the enemy were waiting for them other times they had to be hunted down and destroyed.

On the very rare occasion that the enemy had to be found, they would be found quickly.

Marius lifted his bolt pistol, searching for targets in the blackness, his optics situated in his helmet compensating for the lack of light. He saw as clearly as if he were in daylight, the furthest corners of the large room they found themselves in revealed to him.

He glanced over to his left and saw the reassuring form of his closest friend. The huge warrior equally the size of a terminator although he only wore a normal suit of ceramite armour albeit a larger variation. The assault cannon looking small in his huge metal-gloved fist. The giant tilted his head to one side and although he couldn't see it he knew that Praz was smiling broadly inside the armour.

Marius nodded slightly and the two moved off towards the only door that they could see, the rest of the assault squad spreading out around and behind them. He didn't need to look behind him to know that they were ready and more than willing to put the hurt on anything that moved that wasn't them.

He reached out with his free hand and grasped the metal bar on the door and tensed.

He took a breath and pulled, his strength almost ripping the door from its housing.

* * *

_The captain looked out over his men and lifted his head into the sky closing his eyes for just a second._

_'I have heard you talking amongst yourselves and I know what you are thinking, I share your thoughts.'_

_He lowered his gaze and looked at his warriors arrayed ahead of him._

_'Yes...it is THE COMET, yes...it has been in the warp for nigh-on two centuries, yes...it was the battle barge of a number of splinter groups of traitor marines._

_Now for the facts..._

_There has been no vox traffic at all from the hulk. Several sections are compromised and open to space, but, and this is the kicker brothers...scans indicate that there are a large number of warm bodies still on board. Who...or what they are we do not know but we will be taking no chances. Several assault squads will be deployed for this action. If there are any traitors left alive after we are done then I will consider this mission to be a failure. Do we understand each other?'_

_The marines all snapped to attention as one, the noise of boots on the deck explosively loud._

_'SIR, YES SIR!'_

_The captain looked out at the assembled armour, pride showing in every scar on his face._

_'For the emperor!'_

* * *

Marius let go of the remains of the door and stepped out into the dark corridor beyond.

His helmet vox beeped in his ear.

'Captain?'

The captain of the fourth company was on the other side of the huge vessel making his way with his squad towards them intending to meet in the middle after their sweep.

'Report sergeant.'

Marius held up a gloved hand fingers in a tight fist, the marines who had made it out of the room dropping to one knee, weapons aimed in every direction at once; bolter muzzles searching the dark, and flamers throwing ghostly glowing shadows against the walls.

'No contact, sweeps are showing clear so far, continuing on mission. Primary objective two clicks out.'

The feed cut off and Marius started off again the warriors of his group keeping easy step with him.

He had enough fire power, he was confident, to handle anything that could possibly be waiting for them.

It was quiet on the ship and Marius found himself wondering where it had been? What it had seen?

Where in the emperors name where the enemy?

He heard a sigh from ahead and made several quick gestures with his hand, the other extended out ahead of him, finger firm on the trigger of his weapon.

There was a junction coming up ahead and the corridor seemed to be widening out. Blinking lights showed in his display as the members of his squad reported readiness. They approached the t-junction and he swung right and low as Praz swung right and high.

Marius found himself looking at a collapsed bulkhead, the ships barrier looking as though it had been melted by a great heat.

Melta bombs he thought.

Who would be mad enough to use melta bombs on a starship.

You would either have to be mad or desperate to use them in a confined space. Although he carried three himself they were only ever to be used as a last resort. The rest of the men carried standard frag grenades, their potential power enough to do whatever was needed.

'Marius you may want to see this.'

He turned at the sound of Praz' voice, the edge he heard there enough to peak his interest.

He turned and walked to the giants side his pistol lowering as he took in the sight that lay before him .

* * *

_'It will be good to face the traitors again won't it Marius?'_

_He stopped what he was doing, one glove on, the other in his hand and looked to his friend, a smile playing on the corners of his lips._

_'Aye, that it will brother. Too long have they been loose in this system, it will be good to get them in my sights once again. I am sure that my guns' spirit hungers for their blood. I am only sorry that there won't be enough for you to kill.'_

_Praz broke into a braying laugh making several of the other marines look up from their own preparations._

* * *

Marius had seen countless battlefields before on planets beyond number. He had seen every atrocity that could be visited upon another body...but this, this was beyond what even he had seen before.

The optics in his helmet painted the room a ghostly green, different shades for the patches of darkness on the floor walls and ceiling.

The bodies hung on the wall tied to uprights with barbed wire and mono-filament wire that had sunk into flesh and scored bone. The majority had been dead for some time.

Others looked like they had only been killed recently.

All of the bodies had been mutilated in some way; torsos had been opened and entrails had been dragged across the floor, piled in heaps and themselves pinned in obscure patterns and archaic symbols. Faces had been opened and the the eyes laid out upon bony cheeks.

In any human this would have been a travesty...a horror.

But these were not humans, not normal anyway.

Every body that they could see had the same muscle tone as every one of them.

They had, at some point, been astartes warriors. The fact that they wore scraps of traitor armour; alpha legion, emperors children, a score of others, chaos symbols seen here and there was even worse. To be killed in battle was one thing but to be hung up like so much of meat was just inhuman.

Marius walked into the middle of the slaughter and looked around, the rest of the squad taking up positions around the area weapons ready. He clicked his helmet vox.

'Captain, I have sent my helmet feed to you, orders ?'

The only answer he received was heavy static.

'Captain do you copy?'

Marius waited a full minute before he realised that the vox network was down.

Praz was at his shoulder waiting.

Marius looked at him.

'There is something other than traitors here my friend. We go on, we still have a mission to finish.'

* * *

_Marius and Praz walked side by side towards the embarkation deck of THE FURY and walked towards the boarding torpedo that would deliver them into the very heart of the massive hulk. _

_'Praz reached across and placed a huge hand on his shoulder._

_'Don't worry my friend...I have seen that look before. We have done this countless times, we are the sword and will of the emperor, with him in our hearts what could possibly go wrong?'_

_Marius smiled back, placing his own hand over his friends._

_'What have I told you before about jinxing a mission before it's even begun.'_

_They stepped into the cylinder together._


End file.
